Opera singer Amelia Farrugia at International Women’s Day event
STAR soprano Amelia Farrugia will talk about balancing her international career with family at the Mosman Council International Women’s Day breakfast next month.
Mosman
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mosman. Followed categories will be added to My News.
PERSISTENCE, practice and prayer is how star soprano and Mosmanite Amelia Farrugia has “pressed for progress” in her dual roles of international career woman and mother.
Mosman Council has invited the opera singer and proud local to be the guest speaker at its International Women’s Day breakfast in Mosman Art Gallery on March 8.
The worldwide campaign theme for the day is #PressforProgress after the World Economic Forum 2017 Global Gender Gap Report found that gender parity is more than 200 years away.
Farrugia said it would be a privilege to speak at the event in her beloved Mosman.
“International Women’s Day is important for Australians because it acknowledges that we are a melting pot of many different nations coming together,” she said.
“So, we can really look at how broad, beautiful and colourful our country is and how we can appreciate everybody for what they bring to this country. That’s very much worth celebrating.”
Farrugia plans to end on a high note. “I will finish with an aria because I’m a singer — I would not feel right leaving without singing,” she said.
“It’s a real honour to be asked to talk about my experience working internationally as an artist and hopefully I will represent other women who are perhaps juggling careers and children.”
Farrugia, who is a full-time mother to her son Ben, 15, works at Sydney’s Conservatorium High School and her own Mosman singing studio, Sydney Sings.
She also maintains freelance artist commitments, having performed many lead roles with Opera Australia since 1994 and performed internationally for the likes of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Farrugia said life as a professional singer and mother was about striking a balance, but she was blessed to have had an “absolutely wonderful” career.
“I intend to speak about the way I progressed in my career and my approach,” she said.
“It has involved a lot of persistence, practice and prayer. So, I’m going to be talking about that and the challenges of trying to combine motherhood with an international career.
“Trying to juggle those things is not easy. This theme will be relatable for a lot of people, because a lot of the women who are going to be at the breakfast will be mothers themselves.”
Visit events.mosman.nsw.gov.au for tickets to the event.